Take orchids, for instance. Orchids can be tricky plants; instead of offering up a delicious slurp of nectar, some species lure in unsuspecting male pollinators by mimicking female insects looking for a mate. And while Australia is home to only about five percent of the world’s orchid diversity, more than half of the known sexually deceptive orchid species on Earth evolved there.

Animals in Australia pull plenty of tricks, too. Australian crab spiders are particularly cunning; they sit on plants, lying in wait until a pollinator drops by for a visit. These tiny predators reflect UV light just as a flower might do to advertise its nectar, luring victims into the danger zone. This trick is a relatively common one in Australia, with at least five different species of spiders exhibiting UV deception. But in the rest of the world, it’s almost unheard of: there’s only one other known species of crab spider that pulls a similar trick, and it lives in India.

Simple measures of diversity don’t seem to explain the preponderance of deceptive species down under. So why is Australian wildlife so crafty? A new paper in Behavioral Ecology suggests a few hypotheses. First, it’s possible that Australia’s harsh climate might reward species that evolve new deceptive strategies. Australia’s history is also rife with biological invasions, which might help spur new symbiotic relationships between species. But it’s also possible that there’s a reporting bias and that there’s simply been more research into biological deception in Australia than elsewhere. A national research system that supports natural history research—as well as encourages innovative approaches and creative ideas—might be particularly likely to turn up examples of tricky species.

So far, these hypotheses are largely untested, and the paper is meant to ask questions, rather than to answer them. It's also an elegant example of how basic research can be used to lay the groundwork for testable hypotheses, ones that could potentially explain a larger biological (or perhaps sociological) phenomenon. But for now, the jury's still out on this one.

Kate Shaw Yoshida / Kate is a science writer for Ars Technica. She recently earned a dual Ph.D. in Zoology and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior from Michigan State University, studying the social behavior of wild spotted hyenas.